Automotive vehicles and other products with onboard intelligent systems are progressively assembled in a series of work cells where different assembly, installation and test operations are performed. In the case of a vehicle, the intelligent onboard systems may, for example, include controllers for engine controls, anti-lock brakes, lighting systems, navigation systems and active cruise controls, all of which are interconnected by way of a master wiring harness. According to current American automotive standards, the wiring harness includes a data entry port in the form of a multi-pin plug connector under the dashboard for use in both factory assembly and post-delivery service and diagnostic procedures. Many of the assembly operations include data communication between the vehicle and a work cell. In the typical assembly plant, this is accomplished by having a worker at the cell location make a plug connection to the multi-pin connector after the vehicle arrives in the work cell and un-make the connection after the operations carried on in that work cell are completed but before the vehicle moves to the next cell.
There are various problems and inefficiencies associated with this approach. For one, the multi-pin connector under the dashboard of a vehicle is typically not intended for a high number of plugging and unplugging operations. As a result, the plugging and unplugging operations which are carried on during the assembly process may account for a substantial portion of the life expectancy of the plug connector and/or damage the connector to the point that replacement is required.
More importantly, the process is inefficient in that usable time is lost as the vehicle progresses between work cells. By way of example, the operation at a given work cell may require certain vehicle preparation steps, such as opening a window, accelerating an engine to a predetermined RPM or turning on headlamps. It would be more efficient to perform these preparation steps before the vehicle arrives at the work cell in which the assembly operations associated with the preparation steps are carried out; i.e., while the vehicle is between work cells.
A related inefficiency arises from the fact that the vehicle is essentially out of contact with the work cells and any assembly plant network which may be connected to the work cells for data communication purposes during the time the vehicle is unplugged. There are numerous operations such as downloading software into the vehicle intelligence which can be performed during the movement between work cells, but the current physical apparatus does not allow these operations to be performed until the vehicle arrives at the next cell and is replugged into the network.
While the foregoing mentions vehicle assembly operations, the statements made are also true for other intelligence-carrying products assembled in a progressive, multiple-work cell manner.